The surface of the sun is hot. Scientists say about 6000°C (11000°F). The temperature of lightening is said to be 30,000 °C (54,000 °F), hot enough to fuse silica sand into glass. The big difference is the speed. In fact, the reason for thunder is the speed of air molucles trying to get out of the way of the heat. It's like popping a bag. The noise is not the bag breaking but the air moving fast.
If you've ever watched the clouds in the summer sky you may have witnessed the magnetic pull cumulus clouds have toward each other as fluffy, white puffs grow and mound higher and higher, darker and darker. It is a show of power beyond human control.
I grew up being excited about thunder storms. They were fun to watch and experience. It was also fun to join the annual hike up Mount Timpanogos until too many people made the trail a scar on the mountain. Once, while at the top, a thunder storm began to gather right before us. Hair stood up on heads and arms. Air would crackle as you moved your fingers. Everyone got off the peak as quickly as possible before the strike could come. But the feelings! It was exilerating! It's amazing what electricity does to the emotions.
Bruce and I used to hike with a mountain climbing club. I remember a trip to the Wind Rivers Range in Wyoming. We were camped in a very high mountain glen and I stayed in camp with a girl who was quite sick from altitude sickness. Everyone else went climbing. As we sat in the tent a quick summer storm rolled in with lightening, thunder, and wind. Having no where else to seek shelter, we stayed in the tent even though the tent poles buzzed like a bee hive and rain pounded the tent. Those on the mountain peak experienced the thunder and lightening up close and personal plus they recieved snow.
Closer to home, I remember the summer storm when the lightening show was impressive and most of the neighborhood was watching from porches until lightening hit the tall poplar trees just across the street blowing off about 6 feet of tree top. I can still smell the strong smell of the lightening and clearly remember the sharp concussion of the hit. There again, the emotions were unbelievably strong.
Now days we watch the storms through windows in comfortable safety but without the emotion or the sensual stimulation.
This weekend is the chance for us to feel the lightening again in a safe way. In fact, we can feel lightening that feeds rather than destroys. For those who attend General Conference in the conference center, they will experience the top of the mountain with all the intense emotions and senses. Those who watch the proceedings on TV will be in the mountain glen, where it will be much easier to be distracted by the rain pounding on the tent. Those who read the messages a month later will be observing through the window of their house. They will get the message but miss the strong jolt or the smell of ozone or the intense emotion of a strong presence that cannot be adequately described. But however you choose to experience conference, it will be worth the time you spend.
